4. Zombie Miners

Note to GM: This is a secret area that can be found if the PCs inspect the wider part of the corridor linking areas 3 and 8. At first glance, there is nothing indicating there might be anything here. If the PCs search and find the secret entrance to this area, read the boxed text below. Looking at the wall in this wider part of the tunnel, you notice something strange. A portion of the wall looks like it is composed of an amalgamation of rubble and large boulders rather than the usual solid rock wall. The impression you get is that this is an opening that was closed off, likely by the collapse of the cave’s ceiling. Removing the boulders and rubble requires quite an effort; it will take 1d4+2 turns to clear enough rubble to let someone through. Moreover, moving a boulder requires at least two strong individuals, meaning that at least two characters with a minimal strength score of 13 will need to participate in the clearing effort, else the PCs cannot possibly move the heavy boulders with their bare hands. Using picks or shovels can reduce the length of the clearing effort by 2 turns. Once the PCs manage to clear the way and reveal area 4, read the following description. The opening is very dark but once you get closer, you hear noise. At first you are not sure what this noise is, but soon realize it is some kind of deep moan. It is, however, already too late to back up and two animated corpses emerge from the cleared opening and walk slowly and clumsily towards you. These two zombies are miners that came to the then abandoned mine a few years after the official mining operation ended. They planned on opening a new gallery in search of a new copper vein, but lacking the proper tooling and expertise, the newly dug tunnel collapsed and the two men were trapped inside. They had no supplies, but three vials of a cursed nectar that gives eternal life, or so they thought. The Cursed Nectar of Nodznir is a potion of which an individual dose is enough to turn the drinker into a zombie. If a save vs. Death Ray or Poison is failed, the person dies in 1d6 hours and then instantly reanimates as a zombie. A successful save still does 2d8 points of damage to the drinker and, should he die that way, he will become a zombie immediately after he has died. 2 Zombies: AC 12 half damage from blunt weapons, 1 point only from arrows, bolts, or sling stones, HD 2, #At 1 bludgeon, Dam 1d8, Mv 20', Sv F2, ML 12, XP 75 ea. HP The two zombies will not have any recollections of their past and will simply attack mindlessly any living creature they encounter to eat it. One of the zombies wears a stained silver necklace of poor quality (10 gp). If the PCs search the collapsed tunnel, they will notice that this was a new tunnel the two men were digging and it collapsed, forever trapping them. They will find three vials of the Cursed Nectar of Nodznir; two will be empty and another one will still be full. The PCs will also find some old mining equipment; a pick, a shovel, and a small hammer.